Following up on Governor Cuomo’s State of the State speech, a new poll by the Siena College Research Institute shows that there is bipartisan support for two key reform issues that are near and dear to us at ReformNY: public financing of elections and full disclosure of outside income and clients by legislators.
70 percent of those surveyed said they support establishing a system of public campaign financing for elections in New York. The effort has bipartisan support with 76 percent support of those who identified themselves as Democrats and 63 percent support by those who identified themselves as Republicans.
Fairing even better, requiring full disclosure of legislators’ outside income and clients showed 84 percent support -- with 85 percent support among Democrats and 89 percent support among Republicans.
Less encouraging however, is the public’s expectation that these reforms are likely to become a reality this year – a clear sign of New Yorker’s disillusionment with their government. Only 16 percent believed passing the ethics bill this year is “very likely”, and 36 percent responded as “somewhat likely.” On the public financing of elections, 9 percent responded as “very likely” and 35 percent as “somewhat likely.”
The public's desire for reform in Albany is clear. As we await the promised ethics bill, we hope that the Governor's office and the Legislature are paying close attention to what their constituents demand.
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